


Close to Home

by orphan_account



Category: Free!
Genre: College, Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Silly Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2018-01-14 02:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1248688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They moved in together after high school. Rei works hard at university and Nagisa works hard at his underpaid job. It's not always easy, but they're happy together. They are happy, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Close to Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [banana_llama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/banana_llama/gifts).



> One time me and banana_llama started casually talking about these two and ended up plotting half a story which I stupidly offered to write! happy late birthday banana_llama, thank you for feeding me your ideas and I hope you like it! (Please forgive the cliche job choice everyone, nothing else seemed to work...)

When the bright morning sun woke Rei it was already 7.43. He was supposed to wake up at 7, Nagisa must have changed the alarm again. He was always playing around with it, switching the tune that woke them and changing the time, like that extra seven minutes of sleep _really_ made a difference when he usually slept through the alarm anyway! Nagisa’s mother had been kind enough to provide a list of suggestions for waking her son as a moving-in gift and while Rei appreciated the thought, _cold water_ and _Nagisa’s sisters_ weren’t very practical options.

There were days when Rei leapt straight out of bed because unlike Nagisa he couldn’t pull off ruffling up his hair and dashing out of the door with some sweet pastry in his mouth – Rei’s morning routine was _far_ more complicated and although some students were content to turn up to classes looking like they’d come straight from a heavy night of drinking, Rei refused to go outside looking anything less than perfect.

Thankfully it was one of those lucky mornings when Rei didn’t have early classes or a shift at his part-time job, when they both had nowhere else to be so Rei could slide closer and wrap his arms around Nagisa, pressing a light kiss on his cheek (which was one of the more effective ways of waking him though he wouldn’t pass that information back to Nagisa’s mother.) Rei could confirm with one hundred percent certainty that there was no nicer sensation than Nagisa’s soft skin first thing on a morning. Rolling into each other’s arms when they were half asleep had become so natural that it physically hurt on the days when they didn’t have the time.

“Too early to be alive…” Nagisa murmured, squinting at the clock, his hand slipping under Rei’s shirt to rub his back.

“Go back to sleep, I’ll wake you later,” Rei said, smoothing down Nagisa’s messy hair.

“Don’t go anywhere... Not allowed,” Nagisa said, locking his arms around Rei.

“I could be persuaded to stay,” Rei said, “though I do have a number of objectives to complete this morning...”

“Objective number one, cuddle Nagisa... Number two, give him a kiss.”

They’d spent almost two years waking up together in their apartment, but it still made Rei’s stomach flutter to watch Nagisa crinkle his nose in delight when he felt soft kisses on his face. If there was one thing Rei was _completely hopeless_ against it was Nagisa first thing on a morning.

“I feel like I’ve been waiting weeks for a morning like this,” Rei said. He’d only just started the first semester of his third year and he was already weighed down with work.

"Mmm,” Nagisa agreed, shuffling closer.

It was so easy for a few short playful kisses build to something more, lists of objectives and morning breath be damned. With memories of awkward teenage fumbling conveniently forgotten, nothing felt more natural than pressing close to tense and stretch together, hot breath against warm skin. Rei was convinced there was nothing more beautiful than the glint of Nagisa’s hair as the sun hit it through the gap in the blinds, than watching the flush creep under his skin as he threw his head back and let Rei’s name fall from his lips.

They could waste the morning clinging together, dozing in and out of sleep, but their stomachs were rumbling loud enough to convince Rei to climb out of bed. He’d mastered theories of self-control a long time ago but it was still near-impossible to leave a glowing Nagisa stretching and smiling in bed. 

They lived in a modest third floor apartment in the city with neutral decoration and _almost_ enough space. There wasn’t much of a view from their small balcony, but they stood out there holding hands until it got dark the first day they picked up their keys.

It wasn’t that every day together was perfect – some days blurred into others, some were wasted with pointless arguments and sometimes they barely had time for a meaningful conversation. They had their big important memories together – winning relays, graduating high school, kissing for the first time – but it was the little things that got them through the bad days. It was the silly slow dances around the kitchen, singing the wrong words to songs loud and out of tune, the stupid punch line to a joke they’d soon forget they ever laughed at… that’s what made the small place they rented feel like _home._

Rei was halfway through preparing breakfast in their tiny kitchen when Nagisa yelled “GOOD MORNING HARU!” and snapped him out of his thoughts.

Rei sighed as he turned to their living room. Nagisa (wearing only a pair of purple boxers that were too low on his hips and _definitely_ _not his own_ ) had his arms around their fish bowl and his face pressed against the glass where the uninterested goldfish that Rei foolishly won showing off at a festival game lived. It was Nagisa’s humiliating idea to name him Haruka but after hearing “ _don’t you think fish Haru-chan and real Haru-chan share the same atmosphere?!”_ five times Rei started to believe it.  

Nagisa loved to buy gaudy trinkets for the bottom of the tank “ _to keep him company”_ and as much as Rei sighed and insisted things like _butterflies don’t even live underwater_ and _what use does a fish have with a plastic strawberry?_ it made Nagisa happy and Rei worked out shortly after meeting Nagisa that he would do just about anything to keep him smiling.

“Have you fed Haruka?” Rei called out.

“Yeah,” Nagisa replied, eyes so focused on the television that Rei wasn’t sure he was even listening.

Rei planned to slip a few flakes of fish food into his bowl when Nagisa wasn’t looking, just to be safe.

“Breakfast is ready.”

In a matter of moments, the television was off and Nagisa was knelt at their small table, still shirtless.

“What are you planning to do today?” Rei asked, scanning the morning news on his phone.

“Mm’workin’ fyom twel…ve,” Nagisa said with a mouthful of food.

“I thought it was your day off?” Rei said, and yes he _was_ terribly ashamed that after years of practice he could understand Nagisa perfectly when he spoke like that.

“C…overin’ fuh Sa…ki...chan.”

 “Hmm.” 

That would make six days in a row at work. Nagisa served drinks and waited tables at small run-down café that didn’t pay him enough, a supposedly temporary job (that thankfully involved no cooking) that he’d taken when they first moved to the city because the owner really liked him and sometimes got free cake and _didn’t it sound more fun than stacking shelves at the convenience store or typing up boring data in a stuffy old office_? They were understaffed and Nagisa raced around so fast during working hours that he collapsed on the nearest flat surface every time he stumbled through their front door. Working six days in a row was too much.

It sounded romantic at first – visiting Nagisa in a dimly lit coffee shop where he’d lean over the counter with a grin and bring Rei the right blend of tea before he even ordered and take a convenient break. The reality was travelling halfway across the city only to find it completely full during the lunch time rush, watching Nagisa (who didn’t even have time to look in Rei’s direction) forcing a smile while people treated him terribly.

“I don’t mind,” Nagisa said, not meeting Rei’s eyes.

Rei frowned, watching Nagisa’s small fingers tap an inconsistent rhythm out on the table. His left index finger was still red, he burnt it on the hot drinks machine two days earlier.

“Can I ask you something, Nagisa?”

“Ask away, though you should know everything about me by now. If you’ve forgotten my when my birthday is I’ll be really offended!”

“I’d never-! That’s not it-”

“I know, you want to ask to take a bath together!” Nagisa’s mischievous smile was back.

“Please be serious for one moment-” Rei started, his whole body tensing.

“Don’t be shy, Rei-chan! Let’s take a bath together!”

“I'm afraid I just can't. It’s almost 10. I have to clean the kitchen and the bathroom, do the reading for next Friday, change the water in the fish tank, arrive at university by 1...”

“It’s only 9.33 and I’ll clean up later. C’mon, don’t be so boring,... You can’t go to class all sweaty and smelling like me, can you? I’m going to get it ready!” Nagisa said, leaping to his feet.

“It’s quicker to bathe separately.”

“I can’t hear you!!” Nagisa shouted over the sound of running water.

“I have so much to do!”

Nagisa just ignored him and improvised a sweet little song about bath time.

**

Rei exhaled as he slid into the bath, feeling his muscles relax from the sting of the hot water. He was too tall for their small bath, so when Nagisa slithered in front of him it became cramped and uncomfortable. Still, there was something addictive about kissing drops of water off Nagisa’s spine. Rei couldn’t stop himself from laughing when Nagisa leant his head back to show off his soap bubble beard, although it was a visual joke they’d appreciated many times before. Rei even let Nagisa wash his hair, though he failed to follow the proper routine and somehow managed to get shampoo in all four of their eyes. 

Nagisa’s hair was still damp when he pushed onto his tiptoes and pressed a goodbye kiss on Rei’s cheek, dressed in that fitted white shirt and waistcoat that looked so good on his slender frame. Combined with his sunny customer service approach and the fact that he held back the front of his hair with a selection of hair ties and clips he’d stolen from his sisters over the years, it was no surprise that he was one of the most popular servers at his work. A younger and less mature Rei _might_ have felt a little jealous.

As soon as the door was closed and the echo of Nagisa’s heavy feet on the stairs had faded, Rei started picking up things that did not belong on the floor. It was amazing that they managed to live together in reasonable harmony since Rei thrived on order and Nagisa on chaos. Naturally they were still experimenting, still smoothing out the bumps. It was weeks before Rei learned that just because he picked up a book didn’t mean Nagisa understood he wanted to spend some quiet time alone, months before Nagisa realised he didn’t have to shout to be heard like he had growing up in the Hazuki household.

They got by somehow. Rei tried not to nag _too much_ about housework and Nagisa promised not to hang his underwear from door handles ever again. For Nagisa, the precious baby of his family, cleaning up was wearing rubber gloves and a penguin apron and successfully moving a few socks before getting distracted, leaving Rei to come home and find him collapsed on the sofa, little floury handprints scattered everywhere because he’d decided to bake and burn a cake (and maybe that last part had only happened once but _once was enough!_ )

When the apartment and Rei’s appearance met his high standards he headed outside to find it was one of those warm days with a light breeze that reminded him of high school, where he could almost smell ice cream and chlorine if he closed his eyes. It was such a nice day that Rei couldn’t concentrate during his first class, but that was probably because he could teach the subject material better than their dreary old lecturer who was making a captivating scientific theory sound as exciting as watching the glittery paint dry on the nails of the distracted young lady beside Rei. Since he already knew the subject material inside out, Rei spent some of the class being irresponsible – daydreaming about surprising Nagisa with a picnic, a trip to the beach, a long overdue visit to Iwatobi.

When he parted from his classmates later, he couldn’t resist sending Nagisa a message. “ _Class was extremely uninspiring, I hope your day is better. Can I take you out on a date tomorrow afternoon?_ ”

The reply was instant: “ _aaaaah rly sorry cant im busy tomorrow talk later!!!!”_ with a three sad faces and a heart.  

Rei stopped to stare at his phone in the middle of a busy walkway. His glasses were knocked askew careless student in a mad rush to get to class. He moved to sit on a wall under a tree, adjusted his eyewear and (after careful deliberation) he typed back a simple reply, “ _Oh, what are you doing tomorrow?_ ”

He tapped his foot on the pavement waiting for a response. There was no chance he was working _again,_ was there? It must be something important, Nagisa had never turned down a date before. Usually Nagisa came up with wild ideas for things to do together and Rei would protest a few times before planning things out in meticulous detail. Recently Nagisa had stopped shouting out silly suggestions over dinner. Rei couldn’t recall the last time they went on a proper date.

Rei stared at the background on his phone as he waited, a photograph that Gou had snapped of the two of them as third year captains grinning proudly at each other by the side of the pool. Gou found it when they all got together last New Year and looked through old photographs at Haruka’s house. It was so beautiful that Rei asked for a copy right away. (It was far preferable to that posed picture Nagisa used on his phone where the camera angle was all wrong and the flash was too bright and one of Rei’s eyes looked slightly bigger than the other.) Nagisa was naturally cheerful, but when was the last time he’d _really_ smiled like in the photograph, brighter than the sun, enough to light up the room? Nagisa was happy with their life together, wasn’t he?

Sometimes Rei felt himself wobble under the building pressure of everything: classes, assignments, work, bills, calorific calculations, athletics and relationships and sometimes he hated himself for being tired and short tempered. Sometimes if felt like Nagisa’s warmth helped keep his head above the water– it wasn’t the first time Nagisa saved him from drowning. He’d made it through entrance exams and starting college not because of Nagisa but with the support of his reassuring smile. Rei only hoped that Nagisa would let him return the favour if something was bothering him.

Rei had no new messages after his next class finished and still no reply when he checked his phone after leaving the library. At least they could talk over dinner.

**

Dinner was ready and waiting on the table for when Nagisa was due home. Nagisa was fond of saying things like “just relax, Rei-chan, we’ll eat whatever!” and “you don’t have to plan every meal” but Rei started devising a nutritionally balanced diet for his athletic body when he was 11 years old and he had no intention of stopping.

Nagisa was late but that was easily explained by the unpredictable evening trains and his tendency to dawdle. Of course Nagisa was an adult, free to return at whatever time he pleased; Rei was only ready and waiting because Nagisa probably didn’t have time for lunch and if he was tired nothing would cheer him up like a good meal. Rei was only checking the clock so often because his beautifully presented food smelled _wonderful_ , he’d certainly outdone himself again!

Thirty minutes later Rei grabbed his phone and fired off a quick “ _are you on your way home?”_ He waited a socially acceptable amount of time (he’d read up on the theories of acceptable text messaging back when he was suffering from his teenage crush on Nagisa) and received no reply so he tried calling. All he got was Nagisa’s chirpy voicemail message. That was nothing to worry about, even if Rei had never seen Nagisa turn his phone off once, even if he was one of those irritating people whose phone buzzed in the middle of the night and jingled during movies.

Rei was thoroughly engrossed in his book and if he stopped to check his phone more than usual that was just mere curiosity, if he sighed at the lack of new calls and messages, that was only because their food was completely cold now and he’d worked hard on a new recipe!

Nagisa was an intelligent young man, completely capable of looking after himself, even if he didn’t always look before crossing the street, even if there was construction happening on his route home from work and it would only take one irresponsible worker to leave a hole uncovered for Nagisa to fall right down (he’s only small!) If a particularly colourful bird flew by Nagisa would chase it and someone less rational than Rei might find themselves worrying about that or his tendency to be over-friendly because _anyone_ could take advantage of his agreeable nature but Rei was a cool calm man of logic.

A cool man of logic whose hands were shaking so hard that his expensive phone clattered to the floor when no one answered at Nagisa’s work. That implied that they were closed for the day, Nagisa must have left the building and even if he’d worked extra _and_ called by the convenience store he should have made it home by now. Rei (desperately ignoring his elevated respiratory rate and minor heart palpitations) scanned the local news on his phone. There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary happening, no reports of train accidents or small businesses burnt to the ground.

Rei was physically groaning as he scrolled through his phone contacts seeking someone _anyone_ who could soothe him, heart sinking because these days the first person he called in a time of crisis was Nagisa. They had some mutual acquaintances in the city but none were close enough friends for Rei to wheeze frantically down the phone to. He couldn’t call up his family, how ridiculous would that be, _Hello father, how’s your health? I seem to have lost my boyfriend and it’s causing me chest pain and nausea, do you have any advice for this sort of situation? Put me on speakerphone, we can vote on the photograph for the missing poster._ Certainly not!

He typed out a long message to their oldest school friends explaining everything, asking if anyone could provide statistics regarding the probability of injuries in the food service industry and then backtracked, deleted it all… he sounded like an i _diot_ and even in a catastrophe Ryugazaki Rei was articulate and level-headed. He somehow managed a polite message asking if anyone had heard from Nagisa recently.

He cleaned his glasses _four times_ as he waited. There was no response from Haruka or Rin but Gou said that actually she hadn’t actually, _it’s been too long_ and can Rei tell Nagisa to give her a call because she has something she _just has to tell him_. Makoto said that they hadn’t spoken for too long and he misses them both and _is everything okay_?

It wasn’t like Nagisa to distance himself from his friends, but thinking about it Rei couldn’t recall the last time he’d told a funny story about them or the last time Nagisa had been swimming. Could it be that something was seriously bothering him? What if Nagisa was worrying so much about work that he didn’t notice a rogue piano falling from the window of the music shop and what if he was lying in hospital, phone crushed to pieces so no one could contact Rei (who was clearly identified as his emergency contact) to let him know…

No! He was safe. He was fine. Probably sharing an adorable smile and an after work drink with a co-worker. He did have an adorable smile, didn’t he? Thinking about that only increased Rei’s nausea because if he was a kidnapper he would _definitely_ target someone as cute as Nagisa, mistaking him for a high schooler working part time…

“Kidnapping!” Rei sneered at himself. _He was such a fool._ It was much more likely that he’d fallen onto the train tracks.

After a few strangled yelps Rei gripped hold of the edge of the kitchen cabinet to stop himself collapsing onto the floor and took a moment to _breathe._ His options were to stay at home, pretending to study, _pretending he was calm,_ but actually calculating statistics on fatalities in the workplace and biting his lip until it bruised or… _or_ he could head towards likely places Nagisa might be and try to find him.

Rei raced towards the door, allowing a glance at that silly mask he’d been forced to buy at his first Iwatobi squid festival, the one that he should have thrown out years ago that Nagisa hung on the wall because it still made him laugh sometimes. He considered it briefly, it aided him before… He run back to grab a hat, throwing a notebook and a recent photograph of Nagisa into his bag too. A true detective was always prepared.

It was a cool evening but Rei felt like he was suffocating when he stepped out of the air-conditioned building. He broke into a jog, heading towards the closest train station, ungracefully dodging people in the street and almost tripping over his own feet. He would head towards Nagisa’s work as a starting point and look for clues, there had to be _something_ to indicate where he should go from there. As a last resort he could show passers-by the picture of Nagisa and beg for witness statements.

Rei caught sight of his reflection in a shop window as he stumbled off the train – he looked terrible, he must have been dragging his hands through his hair the whole way. There was no time to find a bathroom to perfect his style so he threw the hat on his head and raced through the busy shopping district.

There were no lights outside the café to indicate it was open but Rei approached and pressed his face against the window panting and covered in sweat, shady hat pulled down low, probably looking like an uncivilised pervert. He tried the door and of course _of course_ it was locked.

Rei’s stomach dropped. There was a dim light shining from the kitchen area at the back but the shop was completely empty. Closed. No Nagisa. Rei slumped forward, waiting, not sure if he was about to throw up or pass out but knowing one of them was inevitable.

He was trying to recall the breathing techniques Makoto taught him before nationals when Nagisa emerged from the back corner of the café. Rei rapped on the glass. Nagisa’s eyes widened and he rushed to open the door.

“R-Rei-chan?” Nagisa said as he pulled his headphones out. “What are you doing here?”

Rei wasted no time throwing himself into Nagisa’s arms. He collapsed forward, thankful that boyfriend was a former athlete capable of supporting his larger frame because Rei was struggling to hold himself up.

“Oh my god, you’re really shaking. What happened?”

Rei tried to speak but the only sounds he could manage were huge heaving breaths. Nagisa gently nudged him backwards into one of the comfy chairs, switching on a brighter light and closing the café door. Rei slumped forward onto the table.

“What’s wrong?” Nagisa asked.

Nagisa removed the hat so his face was visible and Rei didn’t even have the energy to apologise for his hideous hat hair. He raised his eyes to look at Nagisa.

“Y-you’re… bleeding?!” Rei sat up so fast he narrowly missed smacking his head on the wall behind him.

Nagisa looked down in confusion, then pointed at the large red stain on his white shirt. “Oh, this? It’s just strawberry sauce. Can you tell me what’s going on because I’m like really worried right now?”

“Y-you’re worried…?” Rei laughed, short and bitter, then slumped forward face-down on the table again.

“Rei-chan?” Nagisa poked his head gently. “Rei?”

The only response Rei could manage sounded something like “mrrrgghh”. His ears were ringing but could still hear Nagisa twitching, his heel tapping on the floor.

“You’re kind of freaking me out! I’m going to give you a minute to remember how to talk, ok? Then have to tell me what’s going on.”

Rei listened to his footsteps move across the shop, to the whir of the coffee machine, the grumble of “I’ll have to clean this again now.” He didn’t raise his head until he heard the clink of a cup on the table. Caffeine was probably the worst thing that Rei could put in his agitated body but the aroma of freshly brewed coffee was perfect.  

Nagisa slid into the chair opposite and looked at Rei with raised eyebrows.

“I thought…” Rei began, his face flushed. “I expected you home hours ago!”

“Ahhh, yeah I’m sorry. We were really short today and everyone had to rush off so I was like, _sure_ , _I don’t mind cleaning up_! I didn’t know I was so late?”

“You didn’t call or answer the phone. Not even a text message.” Rei said, slamming his hand down so hard on the table he almost spilled his drink.

Nagisa pulled his phone out of his pocket and laughed nervously. “Oops, looks like the battery’s dead! I thought you’d be still at the library with your smart friends. I thought–”

“I was at home wondering where you were. Wondering whether you’re in danger,” Rei said, hands clenched tightly together.

“Rei-chan… I’m really sorry. Everything’s fine though. You need to worry less or you’ll go bald!” Nagisa was smiling. He wasn’t taking the situation seriously.

“But I do worry about you! It’s not just this Nagisa, you’re working too many hours, you’re out of contact with your oldest friends, you haven’t been swimming in _months!_ ”

“Have you been playing Detective Rei-chan without me?”

“That’s not – it’s not like I’m taking notes and writing up an in-depth analysis. I’m just… wondering whether you’re happy with how things are.”

“Sure I am! I guess I’ve just been really tired?”

 “Hmm.” Rei said, unconvinced.

“I’m just trying to make enough money so you can focus on using your big brain to study and not on budgets and boring stuff like that.”

“First of all budgets are not boring–“ Rei started, but Nagisa interrupted before he could truly get started on that particular topic.

“I’m trying to take responsibility and support you. You’re going to graduate in no time and do something super smart and amazing and I’m not going to let you leave me behind. You know, I’m still figuring out what to do with myself and yeah, I miss Iwatobi and we both know this job isn’t the best but… I’m happy, I don’t want to be anywhere else. I love our life together. I love _Rei-chan._ ”

“Nagisa, you…”

Nagisa leaned across the table for a kiss. It successfully eliminated every one of Rei's thoughts.

After a moment of silence Rei said, “Perhaps I was overthinking things, but your happiness is a priority. Please don’t overwork yourself, working hair really doesn’t suit you.”

Nagisa playfully hit Rei with a menu. "You know, there is another reason…”

“What other reason?” Rei leaned forward, eyebrows raised as high as they could go.

“Well if I come in every day I get to talk to this customer and um, we’ve been chatting about this and that. It turns out she works at a history museum and they’re looking for an enthusiastic tour guide.”

Rei inhaled, not daring to speak.

“It’s only part-time and it sounds really serious and I’m going to be up against fancy graduates who are _almost_ as smart as you but...” Nagisa rubbed the back of his head. “she managed to talk them into interviewing me tomorrow.”

“Nagisa, that’s great news. I’m so happy for you,” Rei reached across to squeeze Nagisa’s hands. “Why – why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

“I… I wasn’t trying to keep a secret, it was just kind of last minute and… you have so much to worry about and I knew if I told you you’d be running round all,” he lowered his voice, “ _Nagisa I spent 6 hours finding you the perfect outfit to psychologically boost your success_ and _Nagisa I spent the whole week drawing up a timetable for how much you should sleep to provide the optimal performance, it’s accurate down to the last second.”_

“I certainly would not!”

“You definitely would!”

“With my help, there's no doubt you'll excel as the best candidate. I’m going to provide you with my folder of interview tips and techniques when we get home,” Rei sat up straight, with his broad shoulders back and his chest out, unable to stop the grin spreading over his features because _this_ was the sort of thing he could help with.

“Don’t get too carried away,” Nagisa said.

“Have you even known me to get carried away?” Rei asked.

Nagisa giggled. “How worked up were you when I was late home?”

“Oh, I wasn’t _that_ worked up. Just… curious really.” Rei shrunk into his chair.

“Sure, sure.” Nagisa reached for Rei's hand again. His stomach rumbled loudly. “Wow, I’m so hungry my stomach is singing an opera.”

“Yes, well if you’d made it home when you were expected you would have found dinner waiting on the table.”

“Really? I love you so much,” Nagisa sang.

“Of course you were late so I assumed you wouldn’t want it.”

“I do want it, I do want it.” Nagisa bounced on his chair.

“I couldn’t finish it all myself so I took some round to the neighbours. The young boy next door ate your portion.”

“No. Tell me you didn’t give that little brat my food!” Nagisa looked like he might cry.

“I didn’t. You can heat it up when you get home.”

Nagisa let out a huge sigh of relief. “I am sorry I didn’t let you know I’d be late. I guess I thought even if you were at home you’d be happy for a bit of quiet time to concentrate and study without me bugging you."

“Just… let’s avoid this situation in the future.”

“Yeah,” Nagisa turned to look at the counter. “You know… there’s some cake going out today that I was going to bring home for dessert.”

“Not happening! We haven’t eaten dinner yet and you know you’re going to destroy my excellent physique if you keep forcing so many sugary foods on me, not to mention the potential… are you even listening Nagisa?”

Two pieces of cake surrounded by strawberries and sauce appeared on elegant plates in front of Rei before he could finish explaining why it was a bad idea. It was impressive how Nagisa could communicate _you'll like this cake and if you complain I’ll feed it to you, so eat up!_ in just one smile.

**

The best days ended with Nagisa sprawled out on the sofa, biting his lip as he focused too hard on his handheld game, his head in Rei’s lap because “it’s the comfiest place in the world!!” Rei somehow managed to concentrate on his book, even with Nagisa’s fidgeting and curses. He was reading something non-academic for the first time in _weeks_ because Nagisa had taken the textbook straight out of his hand and told him to relax and even though his brain was ticking with guilt over every moment he wasted not working, relaxing every once in a while led to better productivity and… really he just wanted to spend a few moments together.

Nagisa fell asleep first that night, drifting off as deep and easily as always. Rei waited for his thoughts to slow down. He was better at sleeping these days – there was something comforting about sharing a bed with someone else, even if that someone had sharp toenails and was prone to kicking and making alarming noises. Lovesickness never kept Rei awake anymore, he wasn’t a victim of the reckless teenage romance that used to eat away at him until it hurt to breathe. It was more like he was wrapped in a warm blanket of security, heart bursting with the comfortable glow of a lifelong partnership.

 Rei closed his eyes and listened to his lover’s heavy breathing, unable to recall when Nagisa’s snoring had shifted from an irritation to a lullaby he couldn’t fall asleep without.

**Author's Note:**

> if you are interested in more of my silly writing and/or crying about these two losers you can come say hi on [tumblr](http://nagireigisa.tumblr.com/)


End file.
